Ryder Cup: Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia in action at BMW Championship
Monday 12 September 2016 13:34, UK
Ryder Cup trio Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia experienced a weekend of mixed fortunes at the BMW Championship, as European rookie Chris Wood failed to threaten the top of the KLM Open leaderboard.
Only four of Darren Clarke's Ryder Cup side were in action this week, with none of the players able to mount any kind of title challenge and find some winning form ahead of Hazeltine.
Rose produced the pick of the performances, with the Olympic champion firing eight birdies in a much-improved putting display to close the week with a three-under 68.
The Englishman three-putted the second but then went on a run of five gains in a seven-hole stretch, although a top-25 finish wasn't enough to see him qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship.
"I've actually played very well this week, just desperate on the greens for the first three days," Rose told Sky Sports. "I wasn't feeling great with the putter, but last night I made a slight tweak to the grip and putted really well today.
I made some putts from distance which going in to the Ryder Cup is something which feels good. Even though the results in the play-offs haven't gone my way, I've played pretty nicely in the most part.
"I've had a good run at East Lake and it's disappointing to miss out on that, but after the year I've add it could be a good thing to rest up for the Ryder Cup."
Last week's Deutsche Bank Championship champion McIlroy experienced another frustrating week, mixing two birdies with as many bogeys during an up-and-down 72 on Sunday.
Garcia finished a further stroke off the pace after being unable to capitalise on a steady start to the tournament. The Spaniard followed rounds of 68 and 69 over the first two days with an erratic 76 on Saturday, where he damaged his putter in anger after a disappointing display on the greens.
A final-round 73 saw Garcia drop out of the top 30 FedExCup standings, with Henrik Stenson also slipping out of the East Lake qualification spots after skipping the event to rest his knee injury.
On the European Tour, Thomas Pieters had been due to defend his KLM Open title but was forced to withdraw through injury.
Pieters suffered an allergic reaction to being stung by a bee during a practice match against tournament winner Joost Luiten on Monday, before pulling out a day before the tournament.
That left Wood as the only member of the European side involved in Spijk, who made a slow start with an opening-round 72 on his way to ending the week tied-59th.
Wood followed a three-under 69 on Friday with another up-and-down 72 in the third round, before birdieing his final hole of the week to card a one-under 70 on Sunday.
Seven of Clarke's side are scheduled to appear at next week's Italian Open, the penultimate European Tour event before the Ryder Cup.
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